Tips for Finding the Best LED Flashlight

Lighting Your Way with an LED Flashlight

Having a reliable flashlight on hand is important. They can illuminate your path when going out at night, help you find your way around the house when the power is out, or allow you to see your work when under the car.

An LED flashlight holds a number of benefits. Prmarily they are durable and they break much less easily than an incandescent bulb. In addition, they are very efficient, providing longer battery life and run time, saving you time and money while also providing greater reliability.

Buying Tips

There are a wide variety of LED flashlights available. Some are designed for specific uses such as hunting, tactical, or military use. However, we will focus on household duty LED flashlights here, those that see moderate to light duty use.

Here are a few things to consider when you are tying to select one:

SizeSome LED flashlights are designed to be carried on a key chain, in a shirt pocket, or in a purse. These flashlights are very portable and convenient to keep on hand all of the time. Of course there is a trade off however in power. These flashlights generally won't light up a large area.

Others may be several inches long and weigh a few pounds. These tend to be more powerful and will take larger, and heavier batteries. They will provide light for longer distances and light up a wider area. Typically, these won't be carried in a shirt pocket or small purse.

LightingWhen looking at these devices you'll want to get an idea of how much lighting it can provide. The LED can be a mere 1/2 watt or 3 watt; clearly a 3 watt LED can provide more lighting. Lumens are another rating that has meaning. Clearly a pen light with a 9 lumen rating won't provide the amount of light that a device with a 45 lumen rating can provide.

Manufacturer information and reviews can provide information about how far the light can be thrown, the width of the beam, and so forth.

Adjustable Light OutputFor some, the ability to adjust the amount of light can be important. Some LED flashlights may allow you to turn the handle to go from a focused (spot) beam to a broader one (flood light). Others may have a variety of settings to let you adjusted it to suit the task at hand or to save power.

Battery Life and Run TimeShoppers can also compare battery life and run time. A battery life of 50,000 hours or more should help assure you won't have to replace it soon. A flashlight that can run for long periods of time before recharging will also provide more reliability and security. Longer run time simply means that you won't lose power in the middle of a car repair or in the midst of a search for a lost cat one night. An adjustable flashlight can allow the user to save on power when it's critical.

DurabilityAn LED flashlight can be made from a variety of materials. Aluminum can be sturdy and resist corrosion but so can some plastic materials. More importantly, shoppers might want to consider a device that is both water and shock resistant; devices that are designed to continue operating even when rained on or dropped in water, ones that won't break when accidentally dropped.